Chapter 3 #3
“I’ll tell you everything I know,” Renata says, her voice cracking. “I didn’t escape The Cove. I was taken… against my will. I don’t know what you saw or heard, but I’m telling you the truth. I promise I am.”
“Who took you?”
“Your enemies, obviously,” Renata snaps. I apply more pressure to her side, and she cries out. Jesus, I feel like a dick, but I want this over with.
“That’s all you’re going to tell us? What did you tell them about us?”
“Nothing!”
I press her abdomen now, and she hisses in a breath as a tear rolls down her cheek. I’d rather beat a man to death than make a woman cry. I’m well aware it’s a weakness of mine, but that doesn’t change the facts.
Isabella leans in, her voice dangerously low. “You expect me to believe that? After all the shit we’ve been through, Renata. After everything I’ve done for you. You think you can turn your back on me, and I’ll just take your word for it?”
Renata shakes her head and doesn’t reply. If she’s lying, she’s fucking good at it. I look at Lev. He holds my gaze and nods.
“Please,” she finally says. “I came to you in The Cove. I helped you bring down Javier. You couldn’t have done it without me.”
Isabella doesn’t respond. This is the truth. “They tried to get me to talk. Why do you think I have these bruises? I said nothing, I swear.”
Now it’s Isabella’s turn to look at Lev. He crooks a finger at her, and Isabella walks over to him.
Jesus. I’m glad someone’s got a grip on her. They have a hushed conversation, half in English and half in Spanish, but I don’t catch what they say.
Renata’s gaze flicks to mine. “I don’t know why you all believe that you can be victims, that you were manipulated and lied to, but I’m the traitor here.” Her gaze pleads with me. “You have to believe me.”
I lean in, my voice softer than I intend. “There’s too much at stake, Renata.”
I can’t fucking help it. She’s breaking my heart.
The safety of everyone I care for and everything Isabella and Lev built hinges on whether or not Renata betrayed us. I look to Isabella.
“Do we have any evidence that we’ve been compromised?”
“I’ll look,” Isabella says, taking out her phone.
“Compromised?” Renata says. “What could I have possibly told them that they couldn’t find out themselves? Your location? Well known. Your part in the death of Javier? No one’s hidden that. What else would they have asked me?”
Isabella crosses her arms, her eyes narrowing. “It’s not just about what they could find out on their own, Renata. It’s the details, our plans, the timing. Did they ask about our operations?”
“No! They don’t care about that.”
“Then why are you here? Why didn’t we find your body in a ditch somewhere? They let you go.”
She cries out loud now, tears streaming down her face. I can’t help it. I’m not immune to her tears, not even close. I look away, but her pleas…
“I escaped. My brother was alive, I saw him. But his own men turned on him, they killed him. I had my chance. I ran, and I hid. And I knew where you had a watch set up.”
I turn and study Renata’s face, searching for any sign of deceit, but deciphering the truth isn’t my strong suit. Ironically, it’s hers.
She could be telling the truth. She could be lying.
Isabella shakes her head. “Nothing reported here or in The Cove that would indicate anyone’s been compromised.”
“See?” Renata says, her voice breaking. She lets her chin fall as fresh tears stream down her cheeks. “I am not lying.”
Then why isn’t she looking in my eyes?
“What if she’s telling the truth?” I ask, my voice calm but firm. “We need more than suspicion to make a call like this, Isabella.” We need cold, hard facts.
“Would you be saying the same to me if she wasn’t a beautiful woman?” When I look at Isabella, there’s a twinkle in her eyes, and her lips quirk upward.
Well, no, but I don’t know what that has to do with anything. I discreetly give her the middle finger behind Renata’s back, which earns me a chuckle from Isabella and a warning glare from Lev. I give him a look that tells him, Relax, asshole, your wife can hold her own just fine.
Isabella releases a sigh. “Fine,” she concedes after a moment of silence. “We’re going to trust you’re telling us the truth. But if I find out you lied to us, Renata, you’ll beg for death before the end…”
She’d better not be fucking lying.
My voice is a low rumble. “One wrong move, Renata…”
Renata’s shoulders slump in relief, but there’s still a shadow of fear in her eyes. “Thank you. I promise I won’t let you down.”
Trust is so damn fragile in our word. One misstep and all that we built can come crashing down around us.
Isabella turns back to us, her gaze steely. “We’ll release her, but I have conditions. I want her brought back to The Cove, immediately, where we can keep her from any contact with our enemies and make sure she’s safe from any insidious blowback from the men here who believe her to be a traitor.”
Renata nods, and I do believe she looks relieved.
Isabella turns back to us, her expression stern. “Oh, and one more thing.” I look up at her, so damn ready to get back home.
“Yeah?”
“Tomorrow, you two will be married.” Her eyes are as black as obsidian, cold and merciless. “This time, there will be no escape.”